Although Kurosawa was quite the "out of the box" thinker, I'm almost certain that he would not have considered that one of his masterpieces would remain open to so much interpretation even on the political level.
I find that Rashomon can be used as a framework with various sub-frameworks in the analysis of Japanese politics. For one, the psychological overtone of Rashomon can be used to analyze Japan's political development and its transition from the Meji restoration period to the current post world war II politics. According to the commoner in the Rashomon storyline, that human nature is about survival, selfishness, and the pursuit of interests, which was his reason for the different eyewitness accounts that became the major driving point of the story plot.
How is this commoner's wisdom relevant to the discussion of Japanese politics and its development? The reason that truth is subjective, is that the means through which is recalled or perceived is always dependent on a person's interest. Just as the truth can be twisted here and there to suit the eyewitnesses interests, politics is just as susceptible to change in accordance to the nation's values which ultimately dictate interests.
I'll try to illuminate. Prior to Japan's modernization during the restoration period, the value system was one that emphasized group cohesiveness - for the good of the group ideology - and a national goal of "catching up with the western powers". These values and sentiments affected Japan's interests when it came to policy making. Policies then were made to accommodate such sentiments. This brought about the introduction of western ideologies such as social Darwinism - the ideology that might is right - and technologies that aimed at promoting Japan's position in its race for power and competition against the west. The reason these alien infusions were resisted very little, was due to the afore mentioned value system or interest, in layman's terms, " We should suck it up since its good for national progress ". Also, policy making was dramatically changed with the introduction of the bureaucratic system of governance since it emphasized efficient and rational decision making that is free of human sentiments. This caused alot of internal friction because rural groups started feeling left out and sacrificed for the sake of development. Furthermore, it was bureaucratic thinking that made it so easy for Tojo to declare war against the west without consideration of the implications or consequences that would follow. Following so far? bear in mind that national and political interests have played a major role so far in decision making.
After Japan's defeat in 1945, Occupation forces introduced their own form of liberal politics in the form of the occupational constitution that stipulated the importance of human rights. This event in turn caused a shift in the value system which will eventually affect the interest of leaders, thereby affecting policy making. Postwar national value dropped the whole idea of ultra national ideologies for more practical concerns, such as competing with the west in the economic front rather than the military front. Japan's politics today is the result of that shift in interests. The introduction of democracy and loyalty to one's own group is another reason that Japan is experiencing divided politics in this day and age. We have socialists group that are content with the peaceful conditions that Japan is in now, and then we have conservatives that are interested in restoring Japan to its former glory as a military power. The reason that is vital for observers like us, is because it gives us the ability to analyze the decision making of parties with their own view of what a true Japan should function like by first examining the interest of these respective parties.
Back to the movie, like I said earlier we can use Rashomon to interpret Japanese politics using Rashomon's different levels of interpretation as frameworks. The most popular framework would be using Rashomon's unfolding story as an allegory for the events that lead to Japan's defeat in 1945. Now we have the Samurai and his wife, representing Japan's values and Japan herself respectively - since Japan is in essence married to its values. Lets say the Samurai represents Japan's traditional ultra-national and group cohesiveness values. In the progression of the story, the bandit is introduced as a rapist and a threat to the Samurai's sense of honor, so we shall call the bandit, The West - because he represents the freedom that he enjoys in the wild as a bandit or "democracy". Now, the wife is torn between two men, and this causes conflict and violence, likewise, the introduction of western concepts and ideologies to Japan has brought it its share of internal conflict. The end result of the conflict both in the Samurai's case and Japan would be defeat, with the bandit or the west still standing.
I find that Rashomon can be used as a framework with various sub-frameworks in the analysis of Japanese politics. For one, the psychological overtone of Rashomon can be used to analyze Japan's political development and its transition from the Meji restoration period to the current post world war II politics. According to the commoner in the Rashomon storyline, that human nature is about survival, selfishness, and the pursuit of interests, which was his reason for the different eyewitness accounts that became the major driving point of the story plot.
How is this commoner's wisdom relevant to the discussion of Japanese politics and its development? The reason that truth is subjective, is that the means through which is recalled or perceived is always dependent on a person's interest. Just as the truth can be twisted here and there to suit the eyewitnesses interests, politics is just as susceptible to change in accordance to the nation's values which ultimately dictate interests.
I'll try to illuminate. Prior to Japan's modernization during the restoration period, the value system was one that emphasized group cohesiveness - for the good of the group ideology - and a national goal of "catching up with the western powers". These values and sentiments affected Japan's interests when it came to policy making. Policies then were made to accommodate such sentiments. This brought about the introduction of western ideologies such as social Darwinism - the ideology that might is right - and technologies that aimed at promoting Japan's position in its race for power and competition against the west. The reason these alien infusions were resisted very little, was due to the afore mentioned value system or interest, in layman's terms, " We should suck it up since its good for national progress ". Also, policy making was dramatically changed with the introduction of the bureaucratic system of governance since it emphasized efficient and rational decision making that is free of human sentiments. This caused alot of internal friction because rural groups started feeling left out and sacrificed for the sake of development. Furthermore, it was bureaucratic thinking that made it so easy for Tojo to declare war against the west without consideration of the implications or consequences that would follow. Following so far? bear in mind that national and political interests have played a major role so far in decision making.
After Japan's defeat in 1945, Occupation forces introduced their own form of liberal politics in the form of the occupational constitution that stipulated the importance of human rights. This event in turn caused a shift in the value system which will eventually affect the interest of leaders, thereby affecting policy making. Postwar national value dropped the whole idea of ultra national ideologies for more practical concerns, such as competing with the west in the economic front rather than the military front. Japan's politics today is the result of that shift in interests. The introduction of democracy and loyalty to one's own group is another reason that Japan is experiencing divided politics in this day and age. We have socialists group that are content with the peaceful conditions that Japan is in now, and then we have conservatives that are interested in restoring Japan to its former glory as a military power. The reason that is vital for observers like us, is because it gives us the ability to analyze the decision making of parties with their own view of what a true Japan should function like by first examining the interest of these respective parties.
Back to the movie, like I said earlier we can use Rashomon to interpret Japanese politics using Rashomon's different levels of interpretation as frameworks. The most popular framework would be using Rashomon's unfolding story as an allegory for the events that lead to Japan's defeat in 1945. Now we have the Samurai and his wife, representing Japan's values and Japan herself respectively - since Japan is in essence married to its values. Lets say the Samurai represents Japan's traditional ultra-national and group cohesiveness values. In the progression of the story, the bandit is introduced as a rapist and a threat to the Samurai's sense of honor, so we shall call the bandit, The West - because he represents the freedom that he enjoys in the wild as a bandit or "democracy". Now, the wife is torn between two men, and this causes conflict and violence, likewise, the introduction of western concepts and ideologies to Japan has brought it its share of internal conflict. The end result of the conflict both in the Samurai's case and Japan would be defeat, with the bandit or the west still standing.
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